Cattleya mossiae

[littlefrog]

Please do, I would like to hear the opinions. The previously posted picture (the more close up one) is a better representation of the flowers. This latest one is of pretty old flowers that have been out in really weird weather this summer...

Originally Posted by palm521

hi,

there is a lot of problems with some cattleyas, and it might be a truly exceptional "rubra" with solid lip mossiae. please keep in mind that my "judgement" comes from posted pictures, cant smell it, and cant look to other vegetative aspects of the plant that will help clear if the plant is pure. in the meantime this is an act of faith . still it is a really nice plant to look at.

with your permission i would like to share this pictures to some of my venezuelan friends (i am also venezuelan, although i live in mexico city) .

i would gladly share their opinions here, if that is ok.

happy saturday!

Antonio.

---------- Post added at 01:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:36 AM ----------

With our crazy midwest summer this year, not at all...

Usually about once a week otherwise. It isn't LECA, it is hydroton (or an equivalent - I can't seem to find hydroton anymore).

Originally Posted by lotis146

Very pretty. How often do you water using the Leca?

thanks for sharing!

[Cattleya17]

Simply incredible!!!!!!!


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[RosieC]

Gorgeous!

[WhiteRabbit]

Fabulous!

[smweaver]

Those are really wonderful flowers, and it looks to be an amazingly healthy plant too. But I'm with Antonio on this, it doesn't look like a pure mossiae to me (but, to be fair, I'm neither an orchid judge nor a trained taxonomist). Is the smell really strong? C. mossiae has a truly outstanding fragrance--even for a cattleya. Does your plant typically flower in July? I have a number of mossiaes, and they all consistently bloom in the early spring (even the late-blooming plants typically don't flower later than May). All of that being said, you've done a truly great job growing this guy. I'm too much of a coward to try a cattleya in semi-hydroponics, but if this is what they're capable of, maybe I should pick a sacrificial victim in the collection to experiment with. Congratulations on your blooms.

[littlefrog]

It doesn't typically flower in July, but it never seems to flower during show season. Late April, May, June... I grow under lights most of the year, a lot of my plants have weird timing.

It does smell good

And for what it is worth, almost all of my best catts are in semi-hydro. Baskets are probably marginally better, but with my light setup I don't have room for many baskets, so the semi-hydro is not a bad second option. I have one that won best cattleya at our show for at least two years running (until I divided it, maybe next year!) that I now have potted in a 10 gallon black plastic trash can (a round one). Drilled several holes in the side and filled it with clay pellets...

[smweaver]

Very cool, Rob, that one of your plants won best cattleya--and I can't imagine a cattleya large enough to be growing in a 10-gallon plastic trash can. It's got to be a monster. I'm going to head outside now to find a lucky contestant to introduce to semi-hydro. Thanks for sharing the information about your set-up. It's always informative to learn how other growers get good results.

Steve

[littlefrog]

It is a 'mini' catt, actually. *grin* Well, Tutenkahmun 'POP', kind of a mid size cattleya. Wins show trophies in a gallon semihydro pot. Will be pretty impressive later this year when it has grown into its 10 gallon pot. I hope. Probably will die now that I've bragged on it.